Common Misconceptions and Frequently Asked Questions about WT3 Protocol

Misconceptions

Misconception #1: WTS can be diagnosed with laboratory tests. The basis for suspected WTS is quite simple: low body temperature and any of the WTS symptoms. The diagnosis is confirmed by a therapeutic trial. TSH, T3, and RT3 blood tests have no impact on the diagnosis and treatment of WTS.

Misconception #2: WTS patients must have all of the symptoms. WTS patients do not have to have all the symptoms. They could just have fatigue. They may have weight gain or they may be very thin. Just one of the symptoms on the checklist (other than low body temperature) is required for diagnosis. For example, someone might have only hypoglycemic symptoms and T3 and/or ThyroCare will often correct it. A high cholesterol level is enough of an indication for T3 therapy because often when the temperature is raised to normal the cholesterol will normalize. When the T3 is stopped, the cholesterol often stays normal.

Misconception #3: Patients who aren’t tolerating the treatment well should increase their T3 doses more slowly. That’s usually not the case. Most patients who don’t tolerate the treatment well are fast compensators. Fast compensators require decisive action. It’s like crossing a river with a strong current. If people wade across slowly, it’s easy for the current to knock them down. But if they jump quickly from rock to rock, they can get to the other side more efficiently and comfortably. Slower is not better when it comes to cycling up on T3 therapy. Going up in incremental doses on time every day is often crucial.

Misconception #4: Patients should be weaned off T3 more quickly than they increased their dose. Many times patients are weaned off the T3 too quickly. Thus, doctors often have patients go up too slowly and come down too quickly, but it should be the reverse. Patients should always try going down slowly enough that their temperatures hold without slipping. Some people can wean down an increment every two days, whereas some people need to go down every 4 or 6 days.

Frequently Asked Questions
Question # 1: Should I use Armour thyroid, should I use T3, or should I use Synthroid?
Because Armour thyroid has T3 in addition to T4 it’s probably one step closer to proper treatment for WTS than Synthroid. But patients treated with Armour usually don’t feel 100% better, and they will not be able to get off the medicine without feeling poorly again. When treated properly with WT3 therapy, almost everyone will get to feeling 100% better and are able to remain that way even after they wean off the medicine.

Question # 2: Am I the only doctor doing this? No, there are currently more than 250 doctors on our list of treating physicians, practicing all over the world. It’s estimated that more than 1,000 doctors have used the protocol for more than 50,000 patients during the past 10 years.

Question # 3: Can I get in trouble for prescribing SR-T3? Sustained release T3 is a compounded medicine that is legal to prescribe. Although Dr Wilson faced some opposition for using it in the beginning, there is now such a large constituency of doctors using Sr-T3. It is extremely rare that doctors have any trouble. In fact, the opposition against Dr Wilson was largely for his use of advertising to spread the word about the treatment.

Question #4: Could my patient go to the emergency room and have a heart attack? Because the T3 is given with a sustained release agent, it’s extremely unlikely that patients will have a high risk of heart attack. However, the risk is there, so it’s important to order a baseline EKG before the treatment. Since we now have the CardiaCare formulas, as well as T4, the cardiac risk is much less.

Question # 5: What should I look for in an EKG? You can look for evidence of old heart attacks, frank arrhythmias, and other significant abnormalities. Using calipers, you may want to look for traces of irregular irregularities in the heart rhythm. Such traces may indicate a tendency toward atrial fibrillation, even though at first glance the patients appear to be in normal sinus rhythm.

Question # 6: Can I treat someone with T3 if they have an abnormal EKG?Yes, but you have to be extremely careful. Unsteady T3 levels due to T3 therapy can make cardiac abnormalities more pronounced. For example, small irregular irregularities on the EKG can develop into atrial fibrillation. Patients with abnormal EKG’s have been treated successfully with T3 therapy but they require very careful management. The addition of CardiaCare Plus to the protocol has made this easier.
Finding out the patients’ physical limitations can often lend perspective to the EKG findings. For example, if patients are able to exercise and run around the block without difficulty the concern is less. On the other hand, if patients already have palpitations and aren’t able to walk up stairs because of increased pulse rates then T3 therapy would rarely be advisable. However, patients with high cardiac risk can often improve within 4 weeks of being on CardiaCare Plus. And if they go one month without having any heart palpitations or significant arrhythmias then WT3 therapy can be considered. CardiaCare Plus will often decrease arrhythmias within two weeks and can be given before and during T3 therapy. It can actually decrease tachycardia immediately or within a half hour.
Patients with increased cardiac risk can be kept on smaller maximum doses of the T3 during the first round, up to 30 mcg BID, and supplemented with 0.0125mg of T4 each day for at least the first 2 or 3 months. This more conservative treatment can help patients become acclimated to the T3, especially if they are kept on a plateau dose of T3 for 3 weeks before cycling down. If they tolerate the treatment very well, the maximum dose can be increased to 45 mcg BID. The next round they might go as high as 52.5mcg. If patients still have slight arrhythmias or abnormalities on the EKG, then it is best for them to become acclimatized to the T3 for at least 6 months before trying to go as high as 75 mcg BID.

Question # 7: Can people with high pulse rates be candidates for WT3 therapy? One capsule of CardiaCare Plus (CC+) twice a day or 20 to 60 drops of Cardiocare liquid is usually enough to bring their pulse rates down below 80 within 3 days. If they are feeling well, they can then be started on the WT3 protocol. If their pulse rates are still high, then the CC can be increased to 60 drops four times a day or CardiaCare plus can also be increased to one capsule TID. Please read the product descriptions of CardiaCare and CardiaCare Plus before prescribing.